Improvement in carriage-holdbacks



UNITED STATES PATEIj ;/0FFICE.

RUFUS NUTTING, OF RANDOLPH, VERMONT.

IMPROVEMENT IN CARRlAGE-HOLDBACKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,597, dated May 19, 1863.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Bonus NU'lTING, of Randolph, in the county of Orange and State of Vermont, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Constructing Carriage-Holdbacks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

As it is often desirable to use horses of different lengths in the same vehicle at different times, and as it is desirable to have all horses, whether long or short, as near to the vehicle as may be, and as with the old style with stationary holdbacks in the under side of the shafts and the whole harness, horses of different lengths cannot be so adjusted; and as with the more modern half-harness and stationary holdback irons or straps upon either the under or upper side of the shafts or thills, pole or neap, all horses may not be so adjusted conveniently, therefore the nature of this invention consists in providing'shafts or thills for one horse vehicles, and pole or neap for two-horse vehicles, with a safe, tasty, and convenient holdback, so constructed and applied that it may be instantly and conveniently adjusted to any desired position upon the thill or shaft, pole or neap, or distance from either end of the same, and also act as a strengtheuer for that part of the thill or pole most liable to be broken by being stepped upon while harnessing, and as a chafeiron where the thill or pole strap usually wears the under side of the thill or pole, and also, that it may be applicable to the use of either the whole harness or the half-harness breastplate or hames.

To enable others to appreciate, make, and use my invention, I proceed to describe its construction and operation.

Figure 1 is a side view of the holdback, in which A is the loop, 1 thebrace, K the slidebar, F the holdfast, and H the hook, all constituting one piece of metal, generally of malleable iron. B is the spring, usually made of one or more thicknesses of hard sheet-brass, as wide as the long slit in the chafe-plate'D, Fig. 3, except that portion of the end marked L, which is made wider, so that it may slide freely over the apertures G, to which the holdfast F is made to correspond precisely with a dovetail, which dovetail is intended to prevent the lateral spreading of the sides of the chafe-plate D when the holdback is forced back violently, as is the case when the vehicle to which it is applied passes over any obstruction while descending a hill rapidly. B, Fig. 3, represents this spring and the rivet C, (also 0 in Fig. 1,) by which the spring B is confined firmly to the slide-bar K, (the dottedlines M, Fig. 1, indicate a section of a thill and chafe-plate, D,) the object of the spring B being to retain the holdfast F within the aperture G when it is not desired to adjust the holdback to a different position or dis tanee from the end of the thill or pole, while the hook H firmly holds the opposite end of the slide-bar K, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the same letters indicating the same parts in each of the three figures.

E, Fig. 2, represents a transverse section of a thill or pole, in which is a groove for the hook H to slide freely within, and chafe-iron D, with a front view of the loop A. The back part of the hook H is inclined up about ten degrees, and the front part of the shoulder of the loop A is inclined downward at about the same angle, as seen at the dot H K, Fig. 1, to constitute a fulcrum or turning-point in the operation of this improvement, the manner of operation of which is this: When it is desired to move the loop A, grasp the front part of it, X X, and lift it upward, which act brings down the holdfast F out of the aperture G, and by moving it back or forward to another aperture the spring B forces the holdfast up into the aperture, where it retains it till forced down again by the operator. The length of the chafe-plate D, which is fastened to the thill or pole by screws or otherwise, is generally from twelve to twenty inches, but may be more or less, and the apertures G are generally aboutone and three-fourthinches apart, the drawings representing the actual size of the other parts for a one-horse carriage.

What 1 claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The adjustable holdback A, I, K, F, and H, or its equivalent, in combination with the spring B, or its equivalent, for thills or shafts for the use of one-horse teams, or poles for two-horse teams, substantially as described.

. 2. The chafe-plate D,or its equivalent, in. combination with the holdback A, I, K, F, and H, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

RUFUS NUT-TING.

Witnesses:

E. A. PARISH, S. H. NUTTING. 

